About:

Lives and works in Byron Bay, NSW,

Australia

Represented by:

Fox Galleries, Melbourne VIC

Raft Gallery, Murwillumbah NSW

Growing up in a typical suburban Australian home in Sydney during the 1970’s, Brendan Kelly's first memorable artistic experience occurred around the age 5 while watching his father painting their house. Removing excess paint from a brush, his Dad playfully painted a human figure half man and half woman, split down the center, onto the side of a cardboard box using glossy green enamel house paint which immediately began running and dripping onto the ground. The naively painted solitary figure, fractured into opposites, was beyond comprehension to the child's mind and intrigued him for many years whenever he saw the un-resolvable image depicted on the box. The power and influence of this moment is clear when looking at Kelly’s contemporary figurative works which are usually fractured, ambiguous, intentionally un-resolvable, and often created using runny house paint.

Starting his working life in the graphic arts trade Kelly began experimenting with cartooning, poster art, and T-Shirt design continuing to create in this way well into the new millennium with elements of these early interests still apparent to this day particularly in the absurd cartoon-like figures and humorous satirical narratives so often favoured by the artist.

After relocating to Mullumbimby in the 1990’s the peace and isolation of living in the raw native bush created a sense of nostalgia and a yearning for more meaningful and personal creative endeavours. Attending dynamic drawing classes in Northern NSW opened Kelly's mind to a heightened sense of awareness that led to an exclusive concentration on his art practice. The subsequent development of Kelly's distinctive painting style reflects both his character and life experience with the artist exploring contemporary and historical Australian (and universal) themes through a visual landscape which pushes and pulls between figuration and abstraction in a layered and fractured dialogue of raw and direct marks.

The past decade has seen Kelly steadily building his exhibition history and 2022 saw him invited by curator Rhonda Davis to respond to the Macquarie University survey exhibition of the Northwood Group of artists, including Lloyd Rees, Roland Wakelin, George Lawrence, and John Santry. This saw the artist’s work hung alongside newly discovered Lloyd Rees works in the Lloyd Rees-Uncovered 2022 exhibition, and one of Kelly’s major works from the time being held in the Macquarie University art collection.

Presently the artist maintains a consistent exhibition schedule with commercial and regional galleries, and is currently working on ‘Big Australian’ themes from a suburban backyard viewpoint while living in a wide open land and describes himself as an Urban Surruralist.

Solo Exhibitions:

2026 Venus X Mars. Fox Galleries Melb

2025 Unseen. Gallery Bedlam NSW

2025 The Chromazoic. Fox Galleries Melb Vic

2023 Utter Bedlam, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney NSW

2022 Response to Lloyd Rees Uncovered, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney NSW

2022 Response to Lloyd Rees Uncovered, Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney NSW

2022 Response to Lloyd Rees Uncovered, Macquarie University, Sydney NSW

2022 Saint Ned, Brenda Colahan Fine Art, Sydney NSW

2021 Stamped, 19Karen Gallery Gold Coast QLD

2021 Wallumatta White Kid, The Wellington Gallery Sydney NSW

2021 Breastfed Orphans, Traffic Jam Gallery

2020 Trouble in the Order Wellington Gallery

2020 Flight To Light Wellington Gallery

Group Exhibitions:

2026 Raft Gallery Opening night group show. Murwillumbah

2026 Fast ‘n Bulbous. Gallery Bedlam

2025 Extravagent Rot. Gallery Bedlam

2023 Short Sharp Shock Byron Bay

2022 Response to Lloyd Rees. Macquarie University and Lane Cove Gallery

2022 Capers Festival, Thom Gallery, Byron Bay, NSW

2021 Sydney Road Gallery Birthday Show

2021 ‘Birds’ Group Exhibition, Traffic Jam Galleries, Sydney

2019 Forest Art Flesh and Bone Experiment

2029 Forest Art Enter The Bower

2018 Forest Art The Forest Comes Alive

2018 Forest Art

Awards:

2023 Byron Art Magazine (BAM) Finalist

2022 Wollumbin Art Award Finalist (Highly Commended)

2022 Byron Art Magazine (BAM) Finalist

Residencies:

2022 Lane Cove Gallery Residency - Response to Northwood - Lloyd Rees and Beyond